The walls start shaking, the earth was quaking
My mind was aching, and you were making it
And you shook me all night long
After the whimpering videos that have been showcased recently, it’s time for a bang. This could well be the best crowd ever at a rock concert. It is just one massive heart beat. Play it loud.
During my happy sojourn as a teacher, I was encouraging some 11-year-olds to study maps of New York State, to find various features and places of interest. In passing I asked them if they could find a place Homer would like, imagining in my innocence that Troy might catch their eye. But no, it was “Me, me, me! I know: Springfield!” Continue reading “D’Oh!”
I woke up early on my second full day in Korea. My old friend had arranged for me to be guided through Seoul by two of her old friends, both Korean men in their mid-20s. One, like me, is a Korean history graduate student. The other holds a degree in kinesiology and is a certified swim-instructor. Due to my inability to read signs clearly written in the Roman alphabet I was 15 minutes behind schedule, having travelled north instead of south and only realising it 4 stops later.
After a few hours of discussions on topics ranging from Korean history to the universal commonalities of prehistoric implements we went to have lunch. For those who do not know, I am quite fond of Korean food. Nabchae bokum, octopus in a red chilli sauce, is my absolute favourite dish. The two called around to find the best restaurant serving that and my favourite new alcoholic beverage, makgeolli. The Nabchae bokum really was excellent, and fresh. After receiving the order the cook went to the octopus tank and took out three mid-sized and lively octopi killing and cleaning it just before chopping it up to cook with the sauce and spring onions. The lunch was incredible. It’s difficult to describe the sensation one gets from eating a fresh, properly-prepared Korean meal. Whatever it is, it is magical. They refused to let me pay, or even contribute. My attempt was met with insulted looks and a brusque refusal. Continue reading “Transitions”
If you had a roll call on campus or military parade or on a multi-authored, multi-nationed blogsite there would be a variety of responses. Twas not always so. Previously, the world was a lot bigger and less integrated.
For instance, at my first year class at secondary school there were thirty of us on the register. All with nondescript names like Malcolm, Gordon or Roger. Tell a lie, there was one called Sebastian that we liked to stick pencils into; none of us were saints in those days. Having similar traits we were practically automatons. We were one living entity. Continue reading “The War Journal: Break the Chain”
“The royal trio browsed luxurious delights before they were each presented with a Fortnum’s hamper, containing delicacies including champagne truffles – and dog biscuits.
They laughed as they rummaged through their goodies and spotted the “hearty treats for happy hounds”.
While the Queen is known for her love of corgis, Kate and William recently acquired a cocker spaniel they have named Lupo”.
(Text and picture from today’s DT)
I started writing this as a comment on Janus’s post but got a bit carried away. As I did not want to hijack his, (I am considerate that way), I decided to write my own.
I have mentioned that I came from a large family. Living in the Tropics meant that the hours of daylight were fairly constant throughout the year. About 11 hours in winter and 13 hours in summer. In a farming community not a great deal went on after dark, especially during the week. We did not have television at home and so we spent our evenings together talking, reading and playing games. My mum taught us at home until the age of 10 when we were sent off to boarding school. Continue reading “Childhood”
Some time ago during summer months three of us used to take our lunch break out on the canteen landing. This idyllic setting was on the first floor. After a few weeks one of the men said.
“There goes my plane.” I asked him what he meant and he said. “Every day at this same time that plane flies right over us.”
For the next week we monitored his statement and judged that he was correct. This small plane did indeed fly overhead routinely at the same time. Continue reading “Three men and a Plane”
(As cherished colleagues must have noticed, Backside has now had his gadfly clamped and impounded far away from the the Colosseum where these games are played.)
Our daily visits here bring us all enjoyment far beyond the allure of panem et circenses or Androcles and the Lion or Spartacus. And it was a local Roman playwright, Terence, who wrote a play called The Eunuch, in which one of his characters explains that a love-affair is ruled by its own illogical laws:
“All these vices are in love: injuries, suspicions, enmity, offenses, war, peace restored. If you think that uncertain things can be made certain by reason, you’ll accomplish nothing more than if you strived to go insane by sanity.”
Doesn’t that describe our correspondence on the Chariot? Debates about the uncertainties of life? And most important: a good larf! As WS remarked, “Present mirth hath present laughter. What’s to come is still unsure.”
So I do hope we can all continue to come here, taste the wine, hear the band, blow that horn – and generally be entertained!
I had a difficult mathematical calculation for a woman of limited mathematical ability: how to calculate the right ratios for a ‘reduced sugar marmalade’ (without resorting to sugar substitutes) from the existing figures!
I had the specific amounts of ‘sugar to fruit’ from Earlybird, who had success – then googled to see what recipes were out there. Not many. I didn’t have the amount of water I should use. And anyway I had a different weight of oranges than any of the recipes I found!
Anyhoo, maths and estimates done, this is what I came up with:
Reduced Sugar Marmalade
2kg Seville oranges, 4 litres water, 2 lemons, 2.75 kg sugar.
(My original recipe has a ratio of ‘fruit to sugar’ of 1:2: so 2kg of oranges would require 4kg sugar- so the reduction in this recipe is significant) Continue reading “Marmalade: reduced sugar.”
I was recently lent the DVD set, ‘The Jury’ (Series 2) by a visitor from England. For those who have not seen it, it tells the story from the point of view of various jury members who have been summoned to a case involving the retrial of a man convicted of murder, but whose conviction was overturned on appeal. At the same time that the trial is taking place, a bill is being discussed in Parliament that proposes the ending of trial by jury. It was an enjoyable drama with some interesting characters, plots and sub-plots. Continue reading “Trial By Jury”
Boadicea's Chariot 
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